Tag Archives: business thinking

November 21, 2013 · 11:03 am

Pimento Cheese

We normally do food related posts on Fridays here on the screed but since there is something else that deserves out attention happening tomorrow I’m doing our Foodie Friday Fun post today.

Pimento cheese on Ritz crackers.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This week’s topic is a food that is a staple here are Rancho Deluxe and in many homes – most of them a lot further south than here – around the country:  Pimento Cheese.  For those of you unfamiliar with it, pimento cheese is a blend of cheese and pimentos and other ingredients.  About the only thing about which most folks agree is that it has to have cheese and pimentos and that some of the cheese needs to be yellow cheddar.  Things diverge from there.

Mayonnaise?  Pickle juice? Worcestershire sauce?  Other cheeses?  Cream cheese? Cayenne pepper?  Vinegar?  Depending on one’s tastes and, more importantly, family traditions, the answer is a resounding “yes” or unwavering “no”.  Every family has its own recipe and unique prep method.  Basically, if it’s not made the way your mom or grandmother makes it, the spread is just not right.  It’s a simple food that restaurants often dress up (Abbamare infused pimento cheese with heirloom peppers – shoot me!) unnecessarily. It’s also the sort of food that demonstrates a few very basic truths about business.

First, when you’re charging people with a task, be very specific if you’re expecting a specific result.  “Make me pimento cheese” can mean very different things.  “Use this recipe and make me pimento cheese” gets you a better result.  Second, there is usually more than one way to get an excellent solution.   For those of us who didn’t grow up with a family recipe, tasting different variations on the theme got us to the cheese we enjoy today.  Keep an open mind – accept that many roads lead to Rome – and you’ll be better off.  Finally, don’t make the simple overly complex.  The differences between homemade mayo vs. jarred and imported small batch cheese in pimento cheese are silly other than to justify charging some outrageous price.  Simple is generally better, faster, and more cost-effective.

As with many things in the kitchen and in the office, different people hear the same thing in different ways.  Our job is to get everyone on the same page, working towards the same final product.  Then we get to stand back and watch people enjoy!  You with me?

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November 20, 2013 · 10:45 am

The Choice You’re Really Making

Have you ever been in a situation where you have to make a decision and have done what research you can but realize that you really don’t know enough to make a knowledgeable choice?

Jumping off the cliff at Cape Greco

(Photo credit: Paul Skeie)

For example, you might get asked by the auto mechanic if you want some work done and your knowledge of cars is limited to filling the gas tank. A doctor might give you choices about treatment options and while you might understand the plusses and minuses of each, in the back of your mind is a lingering thought that there must be some medical differences you don’t quite get.

When we’re in those situations, my thinking is that we wind up making one simple choice that’s the same in each case: do I trust the person with whom I’m dealing?  Do I trust that the mechanic isn’t lying about the need to replace a valve spring since I can’t tell a good one from a bad one?  Do I believe this dentist when he says I need to replace an old filling before it become a problem?  In those cases we’re not buying the service – we’re buying the seller.  We’re choosing to believe both that they have understood a problem you’re having and that they have the specific knowledge to solve it in the manner they’re describing.  It’s a leap of faith.

That’s a critical business point that we often forget.  When someone show up late to a meeting I trust them less.  When their materials contain typos or hyperbole, I’m less willing to leap with them.  Being successful in earning trust is a significant factor in a businesses overall success.  That trust is what permits an occasional error (think of a restaurant you frequent that’s having a bad night due to missing servers, etc.).  When your potential customers or clients or partners feel as if you have your own interest at heart and not theirs, you’re toast.

People buy the seller as much as they do the product.  The more complex the decision, the more that holds true.  What we need to do is to ask ourselves if we’re earning that trust or if we’re just pushing a product.  What’s your answer?

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November 7, 2013 · 11:30 am

Oh, The Places You’ll Go

Anyone who thinks Dr. Seuss was writing children’s books didn’t read them very carefully.

Cover of "Oh, the Places You'll Go!"

I was reminded of that a couple of times recently when the same book – Oh The Places You’ll Go – came up.  It was the last book of his that was published before he died in 1990 and it’s a favorite of mine.  I thought I’d point out a few of the business lessons the good doctor teaches us in that slim but important volume.

First, the importance of self-determination:

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.

Too often, we think of ourselves and/or our businesses as just pawns in some game being played out by an unseen hand (to use an economic term).  While packing up and leaving a job or changing the fundamental nature of a business is never a decision taken lightly, it’s an equally bad notion to be miserable or in a business that’s doomed to fail.

Next, he reminds us of the importance of setting priorities in both business and life as well as the importance of being a good person:

So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life’s
a Great Balancing Act.

Twenty words that say hundreds!  Next, one thing the book cautions against is delusional thinking:

On and on you will hike
and I know you’ll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.

That’s one of the more important business points that is most widely ignored.  How often does a staff listen to a boss’s motivational speech about how well everything is going and snicker because they know the reality looks nothing like what he’s saying?  How many executives interpret numbers in ways that always make them seem better than they really are?

Finally, another point I see all the time – negotiating against ourselves:

I’m afraid that some times
you’ll play lonely games too.
Games you can’t win
’cause you’ll play against you.

It’s a no-win game and we often talk ourselves out of proposing new ideas or better business terms because we tell ourselves “that will never work.”  It might not, but what ever it is definitely won’t happen if you talk yourself out of trying.

If you have a copy of the book in the house, the 5 minutes it would take to read it again would be time well spent.  Even better – if you have an older child, do something you haven’t done with them probably since they were 5 or 6 – read it to them.  After all, it’s not a book for children! Then let us know what they said.

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